It has been more than a year since we started our journey to change how Analytics knowledge flows in communities. The experience has been rewarding, fulfilling, gratifying and filled with a lot of learning at the same time. In this short span, we have become one of the leading analytics blogs (in India) and have started transforming Analytics Vidhya into a knowledge portal.

Today, we unveil, a very special programme, Analytics Vidhya Apprenticeship (AV Apprenticeship) or the Data Science Apprenticeship, to take a leap forward in this direction.

The genesis of this programme lies in the numerous interactions, we have had with people across the globe in last one year. What stands out in these discussions, is the talent and recognition imbalance in the industry. Whether it is an experienced analyst (read lone warrior), trying to influence his customers or management about the benefits of investing in cutting edge infrastructure, or some one who has just graduated from one of the various certifications across the globe, recognition of your knowledge does not come easy.

Through this programme, we are set to change this forever (at least for a few people).

The proposition:

The Analytics Vidhya team will extend it’s learnings to a small batch of professionals, and mentor them to achieve great heights in their analytics career. For 6 months, these people will work along with the team, and gain practical knowledge about the subject. Some potential areas of work are:

Blogging – We train you on what it takes to become a successful storyteller / writer. Your high quality output gets published on our platform under your name and stays there even after the programmel (However, the content will come under the Analytics Vidhya Copyright)

Interactions / advice people on social platforms – You solve peoples’ queries and give them specific advice on various forums – be it Quora / Stackoverflow / Github / Kaggle

Active participation on Analytics Vidhya forums – It could be from starting discussions to answering people on specific subject matter.

Participate in data science competitions – You participate in various data science competitions and get mentored by the Analytics Vidhya team

Interact with people in industry – Conduct interviews with Industry leaders

Consultancy projects – Work on actual live problems to gain knowledge

Conducting guest lectures on behalf of Analytics Vidhya

Solve case studies

What do you gain from this programme?

Loads…starting from interactions with several like minded people, to interviewing experts from the Industry, to solving real life problems – you learn from every exercise. Your knowledge is showcased to all the readers on our platform, and hence you see the recognition coming accordingly.

What do I need to pay for this awesome opportunity?

Well…nothing financially. You need to put in a lot of effort to go through this rigorous program. We will get the content and any financial rewards that come in from the work we do together.

However, in order to make sure that we only get serious candidates for the programme, we have introduced a very nominal deposit, which is INR 6000/- (~$100). The entire amount would be refunded to you, the day you pass out of the programme. In case you don’t finish the programme, this deposit would be treated as a compensation for our efforts (and hence will not be refunded).

You will need to clear a tough, multi-stage selection process to enter the programme. Following that, there will be a 6 month long rigorous apprenticeship.

P.S. – You only get the certificate post completion of programme. There are no marks for participating.

Selection process:

Stage 1: Complete the application on Analytics Vidhya website by 25th June 2014. This application includes several essays about your experience and the your reasons to join the programme. Next stages of selection would start as soon as you fill in the application and seats will be provided on first come, first serve basis. So don’t wait – go and fill in the application.

You will get more information about upcoming rounds after you register for stage 1.

P.S. At this stage, you don’t need to make any payment. We will collect this at a later stage.

Few other details:

This is not a traditional programme, but a practical hands on programme in Analytics. Do not expect class room sessions. Do expect a lot of analytics related discussions.

The onus to learn lies with you. If you need to learn any technical stuff, your mentor will direct you to the right place, but it is you, who needs to learn

Expect a lot of feedback and guidance on your work, be it on a blog post or a data science project.

It will be expected of you, to spend at least 4 hours every week as part of the programme.

We are very excited to launch this programme, and can’t wait to interact with you participants. Do let us know your thoughts / feedback / suggestions on this programme. If you need more details, feel free to write to me about it.

Kunal is a post graduate from IIT Bombay in Aerospace Engineering. He has spent more than 8 years in field of Data Science. His work experience ranges from mature markets like UK to a developing market like India. During this period he has lead teams of various sizes and has worked on various tools like SAS, SPSS, Qlikview, R, Python, Adobe Insight (Omniture) and Matlab.

40 Comments

Thanks for launching such a wonderful programme but i have some queries .
I don’t have much experience in analytics industry but decided to shift my career to analytics so I have learnt SAS and R .Is this programme meant for such candidate .

After getting selected someone will have work with you or can work from anywhere ,what will be the normal daily work for next six months.

The programme will have candidates from diverse background – most will have experience in analytics and a few would be newbies with certification like you. Candidate with least experience is set to benefit the most from experience of other people.

The candidates can work from anywhere and will work on knowedge / content creation. They will be expected to spend 3 hours at their end and approximately 1 hour of online interaction with other people / Analytics Vidhya team.

I have been actively following your posts. I am an Masters student in Information systems from University of Erlangen , Germany. My deep interest interest towards Analytics made me write this message.

Firstly, I thank you sincerely for launching such a wonderful course. I would like to take part in it. I participated in Data Analytics course on edx before. I hope that knowledge is sufficient. Moreover, I have deep interest towards Analytics. So, I am thinking that these are enough to sign up into the course.

I think your modus operandi is absolutely great. Keeping a nominal fee as ‘security deposit’ will ensure floating-population is kept at bay. I am strongly in favor of this initiative. I will be submitting my application too.

I know the success of the pro-bono initiative depends significantly two things.
1. how serious the applicants are about learning and enhancing Analytical skills
2. if and how much time can working professionals (like me) can dedicate (or call it invest) in learning.

Very well said. The success of the programme will depend on those factors. In order to make it more meaningful, we will take the candidates with varied background and expertise (e.g. someone who knows R, someone who knows SAS, someone with Matlab experience etc.)

I’m a regular follower of AV. Thanks for launching a program like this. I already work for an analytics org, but my role is currently limited to reporting. Hoping to be part of this program and looking forward for learning from others and contributing to others.

thanks a lot again sir for such an important initiation.
sir i left a comment on your post “The lack of analytics work experience and how to overcome it?”
about my exp.my intrest and my prospective goal.
please find time to analyze it..
more over i ll be filling your form for the first stage .will that be suitable for me.

The aim of the apprentice programme is to provide practical exposure to people currently lacking it. Most of the people in the programme would be expected to come with at least the theoratical knowledge.

[…] of this article has been contributed by Krishna and Chandni. Krishna and Chandni are part of Analytics Vidhya Apprentice programme. Krishna is undergoing his Masters at the NUS, while Chandi works for an analytics startup in […]

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For those of you, who are wondering what is “Analytics Vidhya”, “Analytics” can be defined as the science of extracting insights from raw data. The spectrum of analytics starts from capturing data and evolves into using insights / trends from this data to make informed decisions. Read More